Since 2003 Artastic have created a pageant spectacle for St Patricks festival parade in Dublin, using a variety of community groups along with our talented artists. This blog will describe in brief of a spectacle along with credits to those involved in the year 2009
This is now stepping back a few years but we like to keep a record of our work, and their is a special personal story that goes with each of the parade for those involves so we wanted it to act as a trip down memory lane for anyone who wanted it.
The Age of Aquarius
Pageant description
Artastic’s pageant brings you on a journey through the age of Aquarius into the colourful and adventurous sixties. A time when hippies also became known as flower children because they often would hand out flowers to promote ideas of love and peace. The sixties was more than just a decade, it was a state of mind. The sixties were an exciting, revolutionary, turbulent time of great social and technological change: unforgettable fashion, new musical styles, the first man landing on the moon, peace marches, flower power. Where “go with the flow” was the motto, “the sky is the limit” realized new expectations for mankind.
Visual concept for pageant
The visual concept is one of three stages. 1/The spiral dancers, 2/ the flower children, 3/one small step for man.
The spiral dancers leading the procession, who dance to the sound of the Beatles, represent the notion of ideas starting to escalate. Spiritual ideologies emerging from eastern continents which influenced western thinking. Social expectations been questioned and revolutions begin for human rights. A race for technological advancement.
The flower children section is bedecked with a huge mix of colours. This section represents the state of mind that became known as the sixties. Wild fashion, new music, road trips, festivals, new ideals, a new found liberation which knew no limits. Visually we attempt to bring the eye of the observer upwards with this colour and height.
The final section ‘One Small Step for man’, is a simple, almost baby-like step into the infancy of the space age. Along with the Apollo rocket, our quirky moon dancers float around in the space gear, to represent the brave step out into the unknown. Rob Creage created the sound scape to accompany the section, which has an interesting mix, of moon landing recordings and sixties tunes to create a very bouncy tune.
ABOUT THE COMPANY
- Artastic’s collaborative art projects are nationally recognised as models of community theatre in Ireland, where artists and community groups work together to transform our urban landscapes with colourful creative performances.
- This year Artastic’s pageant has a cast of 120 performers made up of many community groups and friends of Artastic
- Artastic is involved with four different parades today, with over 300 costumes in parades throughout the country. Organising this has been a real challenge to the team.
- Although they are based in Newbridge Co Kildare. They work all year round with a variety of community settings, right through out Ireland.
- Artastic has worked alongside many Dublin inner city youth projects over the past three years, where they have though many young people and a few not so young how to walk on stilts.
- Artastic have worked with the Rose of Tralee over a number of years and plan to work closely with organisers this year to celebrate the fiftieth year of the Rose festival.
Artastic parade company Ireland
ARTISTIC TEAM
Artistic / Performance Director: – Vijaya Bateson ( V-JOY – Phonetic pronunciation)
Choreographer: Paula O Rielly
Team: Lead Production Artist – Caitriona Mc Gowan.
Creative team – Rod Mockler, Aiofe FitzGerlad, Tarot Couzyn, Alan Baird, Gregory Baird, Kirsten Armstrong,
Painter- Orla Cloghar.
Music created by – Rob Creage
Sound Engineer – Gordon Turner.
Groups involved in this year parade.
Students form Model making course in IDAT Dunlaoire
Members of Arts group TICKLE – Dublin
Transition year from ST Patricks Secondary school – Naas
Celbridge Youth Theatre
Balitore Youth Theatre
Various friends and guest of Artastic
Special Guests.
Saorise Kearney, Amber Short and Kinkari Bateson.
Interesting developments.
Our choreographer Paula O Reilly, and two artist Aoife FitxGerald (aka Aoife FitzPerfect) and Kirtsen Armstrong , would have all been young participants in Artastic parades over the years, who have now become valuable assets to the creative team.